Guavas
There is a dirt road, leading up to our house, lined on both sides with 6m tall guava trees, we planted them 20 years ago when we first came, and, guavas being native to this part of the world, have thrived and produced from the very beginning. (I'm actually a Peruvian farmer, writing this)
When the guava fruits begin to ripen you can smell that unique, heady, ripe guava smell. Of course all the birds and small kids from surrounding farms can smell it too, and both come in swarms to grab as much as they can from the tree tops or the windfalls respectively. Never mind, there's plenty for all. We have three varieties, the white, the pink and the small red fleshed ones. All are light green to yellow on the outside. Guavas are well loved all over tropical America and the Caribbean not only for the fruits, which are loaded with vitamin C and pectin, and are eaten fresh or made into jellies, preserves, confections or refreshing drinks, but also because of the medicinal properties of its leaves and bark. These are astringent, antiseptic and antibacterial and are still used by the indigenous people to treat stomach ailments of all kinds.
When the guava fruits begin to ripen you can smell that unique, heady, ripe guava smell. Of course all the birds and small kids from surrounding farms can smell it too, and both come in swarms to grab as much as they can from the tree tops or the windfalls respectively. Never mind, there's plenty for all. We have three varieties, the white, the pink and the small red fleshed ones. All are light green to yellow on the outside. Guavas are well loved all over tropical America and the Caribbean not only for the fruits, which are loaded with vitamin C and pectin, and are eaten fresh or made into jellies, preserves, confections or refreshing drinks, but also because of the medicinal properties of its leaves and bark. These are astringent, antiseptic and antibacterial and are still used by the indigenous people to treat stomach ailments of all kinds.
